If you were in charge of DCL, what would you change?

[PrincessShmoo]

A cruise around the Hawaiian islands that starts at Hawaii and ends at Hawaii. Like NCL Pride of America do.

I know that most of this thread is pipe dreams, but this item is just illegal, and can never be done.

 

[Love2Cruz]

I know that most of this thread is pipe dreams, but this item is just illegal, and can never be done.

Maybe I am missing something, but NCL does it, why is it illegal? Do they have a special exclusive rights?

 

[DCLDVC1]

Apparently not high enough. Looking at the Fantasy for the next 3 months, over half of the sailings are completely sold out of all Concierge categories, yet not a single one of those sailings is sold out in any other category. There seems to be an unbalanced demand for those rooms at the high end.

We're sailing later this year and booked the last Cat V available in July 2015. Some of the popular cruising times sell out very fast.

 

[PrincessShmoo]

Maybe I am missing something, but NCL does it, why is it illegal? Do they have a special exclusive rights?

The NCL ship that cruises Hawaii only is US flagged. And, therefore, not required to have a foreign port stop.

Any foreign flagged ships that want to cruise Hawaii must make a foreign port stop. The closest to Hawaii foreign port would be Mexico or Canada, and that's adding an additional 8-10 sea days to the cruise.

 

[Love2Cruz]

The NCL ship that cruises Hawaii only is US flagged. And, therefore, not required to have a foreign port stop.

Any foreign flagged ships that want to cruise Hawaii must make a foreign port stop. The closest to Hawaii foreign port would be Mexico or Canada, and that's adding an additional 8-10 sea days to the cruise.

Ah, I see. Thx for the explanation.

 

[PrincessShmoo]

Ah, I see. Thx for the explanation.

You're welcome.

 

[phinz]

A cruise around the Hawaiian islands that starts at Hawaii and ends at Hawaii. Like NCL Pride of America do.

I'd vote for this too, but it will never happen unless they left Hawaii, went to Mexico and came back. Like Schmoo said before, all of their ships are built out of the United States and flagged out of the United States, so they can't do a closed loop without a foreign port.

 

[cgolf]

I'd vote for this too, but it will never happen unless they left Hawaii, went to Mexico and came back. Like Schmoo said before, all of their ships are built out of the United States and flagged out of the United States, so they can't do a closed loop without a foreign port.

The original 16 night LA to Hawaii, float around the islands, to Mexico, back to LA was the perfect cruise. The slow pace to and from the islands made the impact of the time change less, so you really weren't over tired during the trip. Never understood the trip there and not back. The LA to LA trip also saved a flight to or from Hawaii which isn't cheap.

 

[Hundredacre]

That's a very interesting observation. If rebookings were way down, yet the rooms are still selling out before all the others, that would indeed seem to say that it's a different set of passengers. I think that a lot of people that are able to afford that price level can't plan things 1.5+ years in advance, and were effectively excluded from Concierge before.



Well, of course. It's a supply-and-demand thing. They can price Concierge a lot higher than other room types, because they have fewer to sell. They need to find far fewer people that are able to and willing to pay the higher prices.



I agree. For me, I think Concierge is terribly overpriced for what you get on the margin, above regular staterooms. I've sailed Concierge four times now, but always when it was off-season or an undesirable itinerary where the price was lower than it normally is. But what I'm willing to pay or what I"d like to see happen wasn't the question. The question was what would I do if I were in charge of DCL, and the answer to that question is that I'd raise Concierge prices even higher, as they are still out of balance with supply and demand based on the fact that they sell out before all of the other rooms.

It makes sense that concierge is selling out. Income and earnings are soaring for the top 3 or so percent while others remain stagnant or near stagnant when you consider inflation (real inflation not the fake numbers they put out). No brainer.

 

[cheshie6]

Things I would like to see differently:

• More ticketed character events & limited poses/autographs. Some people request many shots & we have been late for dinner as a result.

This! 1000x's this! The worst is when you have a character who is only available 1 or 2 times (and only between show time and dinner) and you are in the line and 1 person ahead of you becomes 7 people is ridiculous. I get having a parent hold the place for a family with kids because they couldn't sit in line for a while. But there were plenty of times when 1 person is holding a place and then 5-6 other adults come up a few minutes before it's their turn. Then they each get individual shots with the character as well as a few family shots. Then just the older adults, then just the younger adults. It's silly! I love the ticketed character events! I haven't seen the sudden influx of family members as often with those. But I agree depending on family size, there should be a limited number of poses.

 

[SuperDry]

It makes sense that concierge is selling out. Income and earnings are soaring for the top 3 or so percent while others remain stagnant or near stagnant when you consider inflation

Yep. I would guess that the cost of the cruise for the typical Concierge guest is a lower percentage of their annual income than it is for guests sailing in the regular cabins.

 

[phinz]

Yep. I would guess that the cost of the cruise for the typical Concierge guest is a lower percentage of their annual income than it is for guests sailing in the regular cabins.

I don't know about that. We've been married 25 years. No kids. Worked hard to pay off mortgage and cars. We're both semi-retired now with no kids. Concierge is our big splurge.

 

[mommy2allyandaveri]

Summer west coast options - PLEASE!!!!!!! Everywhere we can cruise out of costs a minimum of 1500-2000 just to get to the cruise. I honestly don't even care where the cruise goes. 4 days out into the ocean, turn around and come home, sign me up!

Better coffee, I swear it tastes like poison

Larger pools

Refreshed menus every year or two would be great.

Free popcorn.

More cooking demonstrations. I really enjoyed it, only 2 per cruise though. I would go daily if they were offered.

 

[Paula Sedley-Burke]

The NCL ship that cruises Hawaii only is US flagged. And, therefore, not required to have a foreign port stop.

Any foreign flagged ships that want to cruise Hawaii must make a foreign port stop. The closest to Hawaii foreign port would be Mexico or Canada, and that's adding an additional 8-10 sea days to the cruise.

Thank you! I recall they did an interesting talk when we were on Pride of America. It is two ships cuts in half and placed back together. This gave them the legal status of a US ship. The front half I think was built in the US. Not that I am suggesting DCL cut The Wonder in half lol...

 

[Paula Sedley-Burke]

I'd vote for this too, but it will never happen unless they left Hawaii, went to Mexico and came back. Like Schmoo said before, all of their ships are built out of the United States and flagged out of the United States, so they can't do a closed loop without a foreign port.

What if they bought an island like Castaway cay...

 

[phinz]

What if they bought an island like Castaway cay...

The Hawaiian Island archipelago is the most remote chain of islands in the world, stretches over 1500 miles, and is owned/possessed by the United States. That's the same distance as Houston to San Francisco as the crow flies. There are no foreign islands any closer than Mexico would be.

 

[phinz]

The NCL ship that cruises Hawaii only is US flagged. And, therefore, not required to have a foreign port stop .

Not only that, but it's the only cruise ship partially built in the United States. They actually had to have special exemption from Congress to register it, along with its sister ships, in the United States and sail the current itinerary.

 

[phinz]

Thank you! I recall they did an interesting talk when we were on Pride of America. It is two ships cuts in half and placed back together. This gave them the legal status of a US ship. The front half I think was built in the US. Not that I am suggesting DCL cut The Wonder in half lol...

It's actually one ship that they lengthened by 70 feet. The reason they were given legal status of a US ship is because the hull was built in the States while the outfitting out was done in Germany. They had to have a special waiver from the US government to be considered a US ship.

 

[SuperDry]

What if they bought an island like Castaway cay...

It wouldn't matter. Just because Disney owned an entire (remote Hawaiian) island wouldn't change the fact that it was under US sovereignty.

 

[Paula Sedley-Burke]

I am thinking that no way DCL would build a ship in the US to expensive shame though. Only hope is to buy a US ship and give it a DCL make over ...